Photograph of Polar Bear

Polar Bear by Andrew Moon.

ARCTIC

Best Wildlife in the Arctic

Mammals
Polar Bear, Narwhal, Bowhead Whale, Beluga, Walrus, Musk Ox and Arctic Fox. Also a chance of Killer, Humpback and Fin Whales, Bearded, Harp, Hooded and Ringed Seals, and Brown and Collared Lemmings.

Birds
Gyr Falcon (including white phase) and Little Auk, as well as (Greater) Snow Goose, Common and King Eiders, Long-tailed Duck, Rock Ptarmigan, Red-throated Diver, Northern Fulmar, Rough-legged Buzzard, Peregrine Falcon, American Golden Plover,(Common) Ringed Plover, Baird's and White-rumped Sandpipers, Glaucous, Iceland and Thayer's Gulls, (Black-legged) Kittiwake, Arctic Tern, Long-tailed and Pomarine Skuas, Brunnich's and Black Guillemots, Shore Lark, Northern Wheatear, and Lapland and Snow Buntings. Also a chance of Snowy Owl, Grey Phalarope (in summer plumage), and Ivory, Ross's and Sabine's Gulls.

Best Times for Wildlife in the Arctic

June is the best time for Narwhal and birds on Baffin Island. Most cruises take place in August.

Recommended Books etc. for the Arctic

A Complete Guide to Arctic Wildlife by R Sale. Helm, 2006.

Mammals of North America by R W Kays and D E Wilson. PUP, 2009 (Second Edition).

Mammals of North America by F A Reid. Peterson North American Field Guides, 2006 (Fourth Edition).

Field Guide to the Birds of North America edited by J Dunn and J Alderfer. NGS, 2011 (Sixth Edition).

Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America by K Kaufman. Houghton Mifflin, 2005.

The North American Bird Guide by D Sibley. Helm, 2000.

Collins Bird Guide by L Svensson et al. Collins, 2010 (Second Edition).


Mammals of North America eGuide. PUP.

Sibley eGuide to Birds of North America. Cool Ideas. Available from mydigitalearth.com.

iBird Explorer PRO. Mitch Waite Group. Available from ibird.com.

National Geographic's Handheld Birds. NGS.

Trip Reports for the Arctic

Many trip reports, some for the Arctic, are posted on the websites listed here. On some of these websites some reports are independent and some are posted by tour companies who organize tours to the Arctic. These tour companies and others also post their own reports on their websites, which are listed under 'Some Organized Tours to the Arctic' below.

Local Guides and Tours in the Arctic

The costs of organized tours partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ. If you are travelling independently, employing such local guides will greatly increase your chances of seeing the wildlife you wish to see.


Accommodation in the Arctic

Some Organized Tours to the Arctic

There are many tour companies who organize tours to see mammals, birds, other wildlife and other natural wonders. The cost of these tours vary considerably according to such variables as the airlines used, the number of days the tours last, the number of sites visited, the number of people in the group (an important consideration if you wish to see such wildlife as rainforest mammals and birds), the number of tour leaders, the standard of accommodation and transport, and the percentage profit the company hopes to make. Generally, where the number of days tours last and the number of sites visited are similar, the cheapest tours are those that use the cheapest airlines, accommodation and local transport, that have the largest groups with the least number of leaders, and that make the least amount of profit. The most expensive tours tend to be those which are exceptionally long, use the most expensive accommodation (ridiculously lavish in some cases, even for single nights) and which make the most profit. Some tour costs partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ.

While tour companies organize tours with set itineraries many also organize custom tours for individuals and private groups who instead of taking a tour with a set itinerary want to follow their own itinerary to suit their own personal tastes, whether it be mammals, birds, other wildlife, other natural wonders or even man-made attractions, or a mixture of them all. Many organized tours with set itineraries are also fast-paced and target as many species as possible, whether they are mammals, birds or other wildlife or everything, which usually leaves little time to enjoy the best sites and individual species, but on a custom tour those taking part can specify the pace and the sites and species they wish to concentrate on. Custom tours also suit people who like to travel with people they already know, rather than with a group of strangers, and people with partners with different interests. Individuals and small groups will almost certainly have to pay more than the price of an organized tour with a set itinerary but a large group of friends may be able to travel for less than the price quoted for a set tour.

The most expensive cruises to the Arctic tend to be those on the largest and most lavish vessels, where every cabin has private facilities, but it is the smaller vessels, with much lower passenger numbers and mostly shared facilities, which usually enable greater and easier access to certain areas, and sometimes longer periods ashore.

Tour companies who run organized tours or can arrange custom tours to the Arctic include the following.